Promises
by AquilaMage
Summary: from Byrne's character wiki: "However, he was also very protective of his daughter and worried about her teenage years; he made Kay promise that if she ever got a boyfriend, she would have to bring him to her father immediately." Kay keeps her word, even if things haven't turned out exactly the way either of them had expected.


Kay sits on her knees, tossing her phone back and forth to keep herself busy enough to not start picking at the mat again.

Across from her, Pearl sits down in the same position. "Are you ready?" When Kay nods, she clasps her hands together and bows her head, eyes shut.

She's seen this done before – a handful of training sessions she'd sat on in, being introduced to Maya's sister – but watching Pearl's form shift is a very different experience now that it's her father's face suddenly in front of her rather than a stranger's.

He gasps, falls to the floor with a yell and starts struggling like someone in the throes of a nightmare. It'd been mentioned a dozen times over that most spirits only remembered the events they'd witnessed in life, up to the point of their death. But knowing that and seeing the results were very different things.

Her chest suddenly far too small for her insides, she freezes, mind a blank until she remembers to breathe. As she moves to help lift him up, she catches a few pieces of what he's trying to say.

"Yew…have to go after her…"

"She's in custody, don't worry about that." She tries to keep her voice as steady as possible while getting him back to a seated position.

At those words, he visibly calms, although from the way he's leaning into his grip on her arms it's clear he's still shaken. "Where's my dau-" As he finally lifts his head up, he stops. And stares at her, brows furrowed and mouth just the slightest bit open.

Kay's reminded of sitting on the prosecutor's bench and watching him give witnesses the same searching look. It's not one she's ever been on the receiving end of before. While it isn't piercing in the way, say, Mr. Edgeworth's is, the way his eyes sweep back and forth like he's taking in every detail and fitting it into some long formula that will provide the answer to his question is certainly enough for her to be pinned to the spot. For all her preparations, this is much more real than she'd imagined it to be, and every bit of what she'd planned to do, to say to him, flies out of her head.

Then, slowly, he releases his grip, lifting his arms. He hesitates for a moment, inches from her as if he's afraid that touching her will make her pop like a bubble, before going to hold her face in his hands. His expression is softer now, though still searching, and finally he whispers, "_Kay_?"

She immediately bursts into tears. "Daddy!" When he smiles at her confirmation, she flings herself at him.

Each of them grabs onto the other, hugging as tightly as they can. And for the next few minutes, they stay like that, only moving to search out each other's hands and squeeze them to reassure themselves that this is real.

Kay breathes in deeply. It's the same comforting warmth that she remembers, even if the fact that she's nearly his height now means that she fits differently in her father's arms. "I wasn't sure if you'd be able to tell…" she murmurs.

With a low rumble of a laugh, he rubs circles into her back. "What kind of a father would I be if I couldn't recognize my little girl?"

She sniffs, lets out a little happy squeak, and rests her forehead against his shoulder.

After a while, he speaks, sounding mostly like he's thinking out loud. "Definitely not any kind of hospital I've ever seen." He pauses the circles for a moment. "Huh. Certainly picked a fancy place to hide out in." Another, longer pause. Under his breath, he says, "Wait, did I indirectly turn my daughter into a criminal?"

Wrinkling her nose, Kay shifts so she can look up at him. "What?" she half-laughs.

"….right. So after Yew's attack put me in a coma and everyone found out about what we were doing, you _didn't_ have to steal me out of the hospital and go on the run from both the legal system _and_ all the criminals the Yatagarasu messed with?" He gives a sideways smile, the kind that made it impossible for most people to tell if he was being serious or not (Kay can tell that he was seriously considering it before she questioned him, and then grew less serious as he started thinking through his initial assumption).

Her matching grin fades, though, as the reality of the situation returns to the forefront of her mind.

Seeing her expression, Byrne sighs. "She really did get me, huh?"

A nod, and she hugs him tightly again.

He goes to brush her bangs out of her face, then freezes. "_You're_ not-"

"No!" Letting go of where she'd grabbed the front of the robe in her rush to keep him from panicking, she sits back. "I'm alive. This is Kurain Village. A lot of the women here are spirit mediums, which means they can summon the spirits of the dead to speak with them."

"Strange. But…that does explain a few things." His hand goes up to touch Pearl's bun, and Kay laughs. He looks around the room with new appreciation, nodding every once in a while, and when he turns back to her it's with a small but steady smile. Then, he sighs. "I suppose I owe you an explanation for everything, huh? Although…I don't know how much of it you already know."

She tugs at the collar of her shirt. "Most of it, actually." And she proceeds to tell him about helping investigate his death. Yew's discovery and escape. Kay finding his diary and returning, seven years later, and the long series of events that eventually unfolded to take down Yew and the smuggling ring for good.

As she finishes, Byrne is watching her fondly, head propped up with one hand. "I am so proud of you, you know that?" He moves to put a hand on top of hers. "You went through hell-"

Kay rapidly dissolves into a fit of giggles at her dad's horrified expression. Eventually, she manages to get out, "dad, I'm twenty-one. I know what swear words are."

His expression shifts to a different kind of distress. "_Twenty-one_?" He throws himself toward her, wrapping her in a protective hug. "Ohhh sweetheart. I know you got older but- …oh, I've missed _so much_." His voice gets thick as he pulls her into his lap. "And you having to do it all without me. I'm so sorry for leaving you. If I could have done anything to change that…"

With how they're pressed together, Kay can feel his tears against her cheek, mixing with her own. She wants to say something, reassure him that he hadn't known what was going to happen, but she can barely choke out her own sobs right now, let alone words. So instead, she nods fervently and curls her arms in between them.

After a long moment, his breathing steadies enough to speak again. "I love you, Kay."

"I love you too dad." She adjusts to sit more comfortably and hums as they settle down. Once finally calmed, she decides that she might as well bring up what she'd really wanted to talk with him about. "Hey, dad?"

"Mmm?" He pauses momentarily in stroking her hair, but otherwise doesn't move.

"You remember what I promised you, if I ever had a boyfriend?"

"That you would bring him to me right away?" A chuckle. "I think that's a moot point now, considering…" He gestures to all of himself.

She huffs, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "Yeah. But also for other reasons."

Leaning back, he angles himself to look at her so she can see him give the same 'go on' nod that he's always used to encourage her to keep talking. Not that she's particularly nervous, but it helps all the same.

"I'm a lesbian."

There is a brief moment where his expression doesn't change at all. "Well then…" he says, seriously. But then there's a gleam in his eye, and he holds up a hand for a high-five. "_Nice_."

She goes for it, laughing.

"So… am I correct in assuming this has something to do with what you mentioned about that promise?"

Kay ducks her head in enough time that he only catches a glimpse of her eyes lighting up, but she can't quite hide the smile that forms. "_Maybe_." Then, in the whisper of one who still can't believe it themself, "I have a girlfriend."

"…Do I get to meet her?" he asks in the same hushed tones.

Nodding vigorously, she stumbles to her feet and over to the door. Opening it, she waves out.

Byrne is absolutely transfixed by the look on his daughter's face. She holds a hand out with the gentlest smile he thinks he's ever seen on her. And the way she watches her girlfriend take it, like she has no intention of ever looking at anything else. His heart stops and his chest hurts from how full to bursting it seems. _His baby girl is in love._ He gets up, meets them halfway over with the widest smile as he struggles not to start crying again.

And _then_ he sees the way her girlfriend has looped her arm around Kay's outstretched one, how she's walking just a little bit behind and eying him nervously for any signs of disapproval. And now there's nothing that can stop him crying. It isn't _fair_; he was supposed to have a few more years at least to prepare for this kind of thing (not that he thinks he would have ever felt ready, but still).

There's a slight bit of nervousness to the way Kay holds herself, for the first time since they were reunited. "Dad, this is my girlfriend, Maya Fey. Maya…my dad."

Maya extends the hand that isn't attached to Kay. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Faraday."

He looks at them for a moment. "Come here, you," he says softly, before enveloping both of them in a hug.

Although a little stiff at first, Maya quickly sinks into the embrace as easily as the other two. As much as Kay had reassured her beforehand that her father would have no problem with her, Maya couldn't help but worry. She had wanted to make sure he liked her, that everything went alright, because she knew how important this was to Kay. None of which was helped by the fact that her life experiences didn't exactly lend themselves to modeling normal interactions with parents. But with this immediate, enthusiastic acceptance the concerns practically melt off of her. So, as they break the hug, she gestures for all of them to sit down, comfortable enough to initiate conversation. "Kay's told me a lot about you."

Byrne reaches over to ruffle his daughter's hair. "Didn't waste any time, huh?"

Rubbing the back of her neck, Maya shrugs. "Well, we have been dating for a few months, and we knew each other for a while before that."

Catching the twitch of her father's mouth, Kay jumps in (literally, as she almost throws herself in front of her girlfriend). "We _meant_ to tell you earlier, but we've been busy between law school and not even being in the country the whole time" She crosses her arms, tilting her head up. "_and_ it's a bunch of work to get all the way out here to do it in the first place."

"Months," he simply says. There's no anger to his voice, simply a firm statement of fact. His posture and expression are equally carefully neutral, save for a raised eyebrow.

"_Yeah_?! It took you two years to tell me about you and Uncle Badd! And I was there the whole time!" She smacks him playfully to emphasize her point. "Two! Years! And I didn't know you were dating! Right in front of me!"

The seriousness is completely dropped now in favor of a playful mockery of contrition. He holds his arms up in an attempt to protect himself from her, laughing. "Alright, alright, I get it. You were really serious about never letting me live that down, huh?"

"I'd say. You know, considering." Maya gestures to him while attempting to stifle her giggles.

After a second to process, Byrne grins wildly. "Oh, I _like_ her." After a moment, his eyes narrow. "Wait. What's this about law school?"

Maya runs her hands over the fabric of her shorts. "I'm…studying to be a defense attorney, actually."

"I see." A nod. "Going over to the other side, huh?" He eyes Kay.

"The only side I'm on's the side of the truth." She folds her arms over her chest, eyes closed.

"That's my girl," he whispers to himself, beaming inside.

Nudging him in the side, she continues, a little shyly. "Besides, I was actually thinking about being a detective." Trying to be subtle about it, Kay shifts to watch her dad's reaction. He'd always told her that she could do whatever she wanted and he would support her no matter what, so she knows worrying is silly, but still.

"Detective Faraday, huh? Has a nice ring to it. Besides," he waves a hand, "_someone_ has to keep all those prosecutors in line."

The wording brings to mind several instances where Badd had said much the same thing to her about watching her father while he was gone, much to her amusement at the time. "Yeah! Especially since I've been assisting with investigations and…I really like it?" Putting a hand up to her chin, she nods. "Actually, that's how we met. Well, kind of. I was helping Franziska with this arson thing (you remember her from what I was telling you earlier?), and Maya was more helping babysit for her friend who was helping Mr. Edgeworth. Except it turned out the guy they thought was the victim turned out to be the murderer? It was weird. Anyway…"

They take turns going back and forth with the story, getting progressively more animated as they go. Kay does impressions of everyone involved, Maya filling in the details with a side heaping of commentary about the not-quite relationship between her friend and prosecutor Edgeworth (it's a little bit more than he can completely follow, since there seems to be a lot of context he doesn't have) that Kay keeps sighing and rolling her eyes at.

Byrne, for his part, is content to sit and watch them, occasionally reacting or adding in his own bit of commentary. A lazy smile across his face, he soaks it in. Memories of the conversations he'd had with Kay about dating, his fears that she might not find someone who cared for her as much as she deserved, and now… Here she is, throwing into her story with ease the occasional glowing compliment or term of endearment toward this other young woman, the way they bounce back and forth clearly marking the solid foundation of a long time of friendship. And from the rest of the story, it's clear that she's gained a whole network of friends. He might not be able to stay with her, but at least he knows she won't be alone.

"…so she offered to help me get Trucy back to the hotel room, and we ended up crashing there. Had a really long conversation over the breakfast bar in the morning, and things just kind of grew from that." As she finishes, Maya looks over to him - still a little bit of that nervousness from before, but much less intense.

He gives his best reassuring nod, scooting closer to the two of them now that there isn't as much of a danger of getting hit by their emotive gesturing. "Sounds like you've certainly been getting up to enough trouble to entertain yourselves."

Kay looks up from where she's been idly braiding Maya's hair. "We try."

As he goes to nod, he finds the movement to be far more effort than it should. A hand goes down to steady himself, despite the fact that he's only sitting. "Can spirits…get tired? I wouldn't think, but then again if you had asked me before this, I wouldn't have thought any of this was possible."

Maya's concerned frown at his condition lessens as he speaks. "Oh, that's probably Pearly getting tired. She _has_ been channeling for a while."

"Ah." A pang goes through him as he notices Kay slump a little. "How does this work, then?" he asks softly. "Is this a one-time deal or-" He reaches over as Kay scoots for him to hold her again.

"No." Putting a hand on top of Kay's, Maya sighs. Her voice is calm and matter of fact, tinged with a background strain of sadness. "But the idea is still that it's supposed to be a temporary solution. The dead _are_ still…dead, after all." She gives a strained smile, clearly speaking from experience.

Byrne nods, running his hand through his daughter's hair. "I understand."

Her expression lifts slightly. "I promise this won't be the last time. At the very least, you'll have whenever I can get Pearly into town." When he tilts his head, frowning at her, Maya adds, "Kay's not the only one who misses you."

With a firm huff, Kay leans into him and nods. "I haven't told Badd yet, but it only seems fair that we both get to say goodbye."

As much as the thought of facing another loved one's grief and a reminder of his own mortality hurts, the possibility for that to happen had never crossed his mind. And now… He gives Kay a squeeze before pulling away to approach Maya. "_Thank you_." He can't even begin to say how much her offer means to him, but based on the way she'd said it, he's pretty sure she understands anyway. "When this is over, please tell your…friend?" He looks down at himself.

A light shake of her head in amusement. "She's my cousin, but yeah."

"Please thank her for me. And take care of Kay," he stage-whispers. "I can tell that you care about her, and I'm glad you're both happy together. Just make sure I don't have to figure out if spirits can haunt people, alright?"

Covering her grin with a hand, she nods. "Of course." This time, when he goes to hug her, she falls into it right away, savoring the warmth of knowing that she has another person to call family.

Byrne goes to pull away and stops himself. "Oh, right." And then he leans in to Maya and whispers something to her.

Immediately, she blushes, ducking her head. "I don't even know if that's going to- I mean, if it happens of course, but I…uh…"

Laughing, he waves a hand. "I know. Just messing with you, kid. Mostly." Then, he turns back to Kay.

She jumps at him, throwing her arms over his shoulders. "I love you, daddy."

"I love you, sweetheart. Always." Byrne kisses her forehead and holds her as he fades away, leaving a half-asleep Pearl on her lap.

Cradling Pearl's head, Kay looks over at her girlfriend. "What did he say?"

Flushing again, Maya stares down at her necklace as she plays with it. "He, uh. Told me that if nothing else, I had to promise to make sure he's channeled for the wedding."

"_Dad_!" She holds her head in her hands. "_Oh my god_."

Still not looking at her, she takes her cousin back. "I'm sorry, I didn't…"

Noticing Maya's growing distress, Kay leans over and kisses her on the cheek. "He's only teasing because he likes you." She stares at her until their gazes meet, then flashes a smile. "See? I told you it would be fine." Another kiss, and she whispers, "thanks for doing this with me." The fact that she'd been able to share this part of her family with her girlfriend was far more important than she could put words to right now, especially with how emotionally exhausting the past few hours have been.

A hand goes to Kay's forehead to steady her shaking. "Anything for you. But for now," she drags a slowly stirring Pearl to her feet before offering Kay a hand, "let's get something to eat, and then rest, okay?" Pulling her up, Maya gives Kay one last kiss before the three of them make their way out together.


End file.
